Maccabi Tel Aviv has started off its Israeli League championship defense with a 3-0 victory over Maccabi Petah Tikva at the Moshava Stadium on Sunday night.

In what was one of the most difficult days in Israel since October 7 after the IDF announced that they had found the bodies of six hostages in Rafah with evidence that they were murdered by their Hamas captors only days earlier, the crowd of 9,500 fans paid their respects prior to kickoff with an emotional show of support for the hostages.

Once play started, Maccabi thought they had scored inside four minutes when Hisham Layous drew the keeper out and Osher Davida flicked the ball goalward with it seeming to go in, but it was cleared by the Petah Tikvah defense on the line. The Maccabi midfield was giving Dor Peretz and Eran Zahavi opportunities, with Gabi Kanichowsky creating his own shots, they were unable to convert early on. While Luka Štor and Amir Altori did not shy away from attacking for Petah Tikva, Ofir Davidzada, Raz Shlomo and Tyrese Asante made sure that Maccabi’s keeper Roi Mishpati was not seriously threatened.

Kanichowsky finally broke through for Maccabi in the 30th minute with a beautiful left-foot strike inside the box. Shortly after the goal scorer went to ground after a challenge from Tamir Glazer which earned the latter a yellow card. Kanichowsky continued to play, but he did not look comfortable. This didn’t hamper the visitors’ offense though, with Layous made it 2-0 after 41 minutes when he put the ball in the back of the net from a Davida pass inside the box. Žarko Lazetic felt the need to replace Kanichowsky shortly before the break due to an injury, with Ido Shahar coming onto the pitch just prior to the halftime break.

The hosts made two changes at halftime, with Altori and Ariel Lugasi going off for Idan Vered and Mohammed Hindy. Petah Tikva had its first real chance 11 minutes into the second half, when Štor inexplicably found himself with the ball in the box, but his shot went wide of the goal. Then in the 60th minute Liran Hazan hit the top of the crossbar and the home side was still left without a goal. Then only a few minutes later Petah Tikvah attached again, with Liran Hazan making Mishpati work to save the ball and again avoid conceding.

For all of Petah Tikva’s attacking, it was Maccabi who scored the first goal of the second half, with Raz Shlomo scoring off a corner in the 65th minute. With a 3-0 lead, Lazetic changed up his attack with Henry Addo and Henry Addo replacing Eran Zahavi and Hisham Layous in the 67th minute, then he made his last two substitutions with Idan Nachmias and Elad Madmon replacing Sagiv Jehezkel and Dor Peretz. Dan Roman then brought Guy Dezent on for Alon Azugy, but it ultimately did not affect the scoreline at all with the Yellow & Blue coming away with the victory.

“Especially the fiest half, it was very good for us,” Lazetic said after the game. “We played how we want to play. We put good energy behind the ball and that’s it. We maybe missed more goals in the first 20 to 30 minute.

“I’m scared about these games, especially after traveling and returning two days ago,” Lazetic continued. “Congratulations to Petra Tikva, especially in the second half. They caused us problems at the beginning of the second half.”

Lazetic wasn’t able to give much information about Kanichowsky’s injury: “We will see. It’s a kick and he felt pain and that’s why he asked for a substitution.”

“We tried a game plan that didn’t work,” Roman said of the first half. “We were passive. In the second half we changed the players and the strategy and it was better for us. It could have been different, but the last 30 minutes wasn’t great for us.”

“To score for the first time felt great,” Shlomo said of scoring his first goal in yellow & blue. “The win is important for us. Three points after a difficult month and a half, it doesn’t matter against who it is in the League.”

The other match scheduled for Sunday evening at Turner Stadium between Hapoel Beer Sheva and the visiting Bnei Sakhnin was postponed after Sakhnin fans turned their backs to the filed during the playing of Hatikva prior to the game and Beer Sheva fans in response invaded the pitch and attacked the visiting fans. The Sakhnin players refused to take the field after the incident and the team now faces the prospect of a forfeit, or at worst an automatic relegation to the Leumit League.

“We feared taking the pitch, health of the players is important,” Sakhnin representatives said to the media. “There is a fear that the players and staff will be attacked. The game needs to be cancelled, the police cannot guarantee the players’ safety.”

With the international break next weekend, with Israel playing against Belgium and Italy, the Winner League will resume again with Round 3 in two weeks.